Although Sylvia and I have owned a Novation "Ultranova" synthesizer for several months, I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around its various sections and how they interconnect with each other. My synthesizer background has been with the:

• Mini Moog (purchased "new" back in the 70s and later sold),
• the Vako Polyphonic Orchestron (purchased "new" back in the 70s and later sold. Not really a "synthesizer" but a "reproducer" of recorded sound),
• the ARP 2600 (purchased "used" back in the 70s and later sold. In the mid-80s, Sylvia and I purchased a "new" one when we heard ARP had just announced they were going out of business)

Thinking I needed to create a type of "overflow chart", showing "what" connects to "what", I printed out several pages of the Owner's Manual and brought it to work. For the last few weeks, I looked through it during lunch.
After reading through it more closely, I discovered that one aspect of my confusion was from the cryptic titles printed on the screen, indicating the different functions. For example: "01WTInt" stands for "Oscillator 1, Wave Table Interpolation". Then, reading its details helped me understand that this feature adjusts the movement between certain Wave Tables from "Stepped" to "Smooth" when activated.
I also more-clearly understood that certain functions are not as complicated as I thought they were. They're simply "routed" or "accessed" in a way that's different from what I'm used to with other synths. For example: the Ultranova does offer "Ring Modulation" but there is no dedicated "button" or "knob" for this. Instead, it's selected in the "Mixer" — because it's a mixture between Oscillators 1 and 3 or Oscillators 2 and 3. Your choice.
At first glance, the Ultranova seems to have a lot of "menu diving" but after my recent working with it, I now see that most sections only have one or two "screens" worth of adjustments.
At a retail price of just $600, this synthesizer is well-worth the money.

Although I talk a lot about "synthesizers", I'm really a "Drummer". (However, I also like doing Sound Design.)
About a week ago, I was doing some research on the different ways Drummers keep their drumsticks from slipping in their hands when their hands begin to sweat.
I looked through ideas on:​

• drumstick tape,
• spray-on rubber coating,
• roughly-sanded drumsticks,
• and the various tacky liquids that companies make for this purpose.

At one point, while in the middle of all this confusion, Sylvia mentioned: "Why not use that extra tube of "lip balm" that's on your desk?" So I put some on my hands and then coated the drumsticks with it. It's a bit too tacky but it does work.
Today, when I started to practice my drums, I noticed that the lip balm coating had worn off. Since that tube had been finished, I used another tube from a different manufacturer. However, this brand didn't work at all. It almost made the drumsticks slippery. I even tested a 3rd brand that we had and it didn't work either. So here's the score:

• Badger (brand) lip balm is what I used first and worked the best.
• Biggs & Featherbelle (brand) almost made the drumsticks slippery.
• Alaffia (brand) also didn't work.

So the next time Sylvia and I are shopping, we'll pick-up another tube of Badger brand and I'll do a little more testing with it.
​Just thought I'd pass this along, in case it helps others in the same situation.

For March, Sylvia and I have selected a very powerful Modular Synthesizer, for this month's "Review" and "Drawing", on our crowd-funding page.

For details on this very capable, musical tool, visit its product page:
pittsburghmodular.com/news/2017/1/11/introducing-the-lifeforms-foundation-4-and-lifeforms-foundation-evo

For more information on this crowd-funding project, please visit our Patreon page:
www.patreon.com/infinity_band

To hear our album, "Perfectionately Yours" for free, visit our BandCamp page:
infinity4.bandcamp.com/releases